The Effect of Drip Irrigation on the Length and Distribution of Apple Tree Roots

Abstract

In a three-year experiment (2019–2021), the roots of 7-year-old apple trees (Malus domestica cv. ‘Red Jonaprince’) grown under drip irrigation were studied. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of irrigation on root density at different depths and distances from the trunk. The working hypothesis assumed that irrigation significantly affects the total length of apple roots. The irrigation treatments corresponding to the calculated water evapotranspiration (ET100), 50% of the calculated ET (ET50), a control (ET0, no irrigation, under rainfed conditions), and a treatment using double-drip lines (2Drops) were monitored. Soil cores were collected in spring and autumn. The total length of the roots (TRLt) and the length of new vital roots (TRLv) to a depth of 80 cm were evaluated. The effects of treatments were mostly insignificant for the TRLt; only in the dry season in 2019 were the TRLt values of the irrigated treatments (ET50 and ET100) significantly higher, 18.67 km·m−2 and 17.45 km·m−2, in comparison to 11.16 km·m−2 for the ET0, at a 10 cm distance from the tree trunk. The irrigation treatments had a statistically significant effect on the TRLv values near the trunk in 2019 and 2020, while in autumn 2020 and 2021, irrigation significantly affected the TRLv at greater distances from the tree trunk. In summary, the irrigation treatments mostly had no significant effect on the total root length. However, an effect of irrigation on the root length of new vital roots was observed at certain sampling dates and distances from the trunk.